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Partnership to Integrate DERs into Utility Customer Experience

EnergyHub recently announced a collaboration with Oracle Utilities to help energy providers intelligently incorporate distributed energy resources (DERs) into their customer engagement and distribution network operations. The two companies are teaming up to supercharge enrollment in bring-your-own-device (BYOD) programs, create a connected utility experience for customers, and enable utility distribution operators to integrate DERs at scale.

“Our clients are looking for an enterprise-wide solution for managing grid-edge DERs,” said Seth Frader-Thompson, co-founder and president of EnergyHub. “Combining our solution with Oracle's capabilities drives greater adoption of customer-owned DERs and makes it easy for our clients to seamlessly integrate DERs into the entire utility strategy, from customer engagement to demand side management to distribution operations.”

Elevating the Utility Customer Experience

With one solution, utilities can combine energy usage, DER, and rate plan insights into a single, engaging customer experience. With a new depth of personalization and targeted marketing, EnergyHub and Oracle Utilities claim they can not only boost enrollment in utility BYOD programs but also accelerate adoption and beneficial use of all types of DERs, from smart thermostats and electric vehicle (EV) chargers, to batteries and solar inverters. The companies are combining their efforts to help utilities strengthen their position as trusted advisors and to lead all types of energy consumers to actively participate in a customer-centric grid.

“Utility customers are adopting more clean, distributed energy technology every day, and they trust their utility for advice on what technology to adopt next. In tandem, customers want better insight into how their technology is helping them save energy and on their utility bills,” said Scott Neuman, Opower group vice president at Oracle Utilities. “We’re working with EnergyHub to help utilities provide all that and the demand flexibility the industry needs at scale right now.”

Integrating DERs into Holistic Grid Operations

The partnership offers a solution that combines EnergyHub’s grid-edge platform with the Oracle Utilities NMS for advanced distribution operations. One solution will give the control room unprecedented visibility, control, and optimization of grid-edge DERs and extend the reach of distribution operations to behind the meter. Grid operators using the Oracle Utilities NMS will get situational awareness, and optimized load and voltage control of both customer-owned and utility scale DERs in real time. As a result, they will be able to dispatch everything from system-wide peak load reduction to real-time calls for localized voltage and load relief to proactively mitigate grid constraints before they happen.